First Place
by winduprunner
Summary: You had known him forever, you had been friends with him since you could talk, and you had swam with him from the start. And somewhere along the way you fell in love. HaruxReader Fluff Don't own Free! but damn I wish I did.


Your palm slammed against the cold tiles of the pool wall and you pulled up, breathing fast and arms aching as your head whipped around to check the scoreboard. _First place!_ First place. After all of those hours of training with the Iwatobi High School swim team and your friends, had finally gotten you into first place. _I'm going to Nationals!_ You thought excitedly the crowd's deafening roar filling your ears and chest. You smiled widely, your heart hammering as you searched the stands, finally spotting your team. They were all cheering and waving, none as wildly as Nagisa but you did not see the one person that you had been hoping to find. Your best friend, the boy you had grown up with, the boy you had swam with time and time again, and inexplicably, the boy you had fallen in love with. Your smile fell as you turned around trying to find the black haired boy amongst the crazed crowd.

_Haru?_

You hauled yourself out of the pool, yanking your goggles and cap off as you pushed through the crowd, your mind whirring in confusion. When you reached the bleachers Nagisa, Rei, and Makoto all tackled you with a bear hug and began to talk excitedly all of them trying to be heard over one another.

"Makoto where's Haru?" You asked sending your best friends into an uncomfortable silence. Makoto, your brother, gave you a sad smile and shook his head. Your eyes widened and your heart stung. _He promised. _You wanted to scream; you wanted to yell and tell Makoto to wipe that smile off his face. _No (y/n) that's not fair. _Makoto knew how you felt about Haru, heck they all did. And it wasn't his fault that he smiled so much, you honestly weren't sure if he knew how to stop. It still amazed you that you two were related, you couldn't help but wonder why Makoto was so nice, and why the niceness had skipped out on your gene pool. You weren't exactly mean. No that wasn't it. You were just honest, and sarcastic, and stubborn, and you always talked way too much and way too loud. It usually didn't bother you that much. Usually. "What do you mean?" You asked your voice rising and fist clenching as water continued to snake off your arms and legs.

"He wondered off just before your race started." Rei mumbled adjusting his glasses as Nagisa and Makoto gave him an exasperated look.

"Oh." Was all you could manage before you were pushing through the trio and running towards the stadium doors. _No. No. No. No. No. _You thought sadly as you raced down the deserted hallways. He said he'd be there. This race was important to you; it was the most important thing to you. For as long as you could remember you had loved Haru, and you have also been second best for just as long. Second when it came to swimming. Second when it came to water. And second when it came to Rin and the relay team. For once you thought that you had actually gotten first.

Your bare feet padded against the floor as you quickly rounded a corner and caught sight of a certain dark haired boy talking to another red haired boy. _He was talking to Rin? This whole time while I was racing he was just… TALKING?_ You stomped over to the boys your hair swinging in wild, wet tangles around you. Rin was the first to notice you and turned to give you a sharp toothed grin.

"Hey!..." He waved as Haru turned to take in your red faced and furious expression, his face as stoic as ever. You could feel the burn of angry, fat, and disappointed tears begin to blur your vision. Rin's eyes widened as he looked from you to Haru. He slowly nodded, as if he had come to a decision and clapped both of you on the shoulders before hurriedly running off calling out a quick "Bye!" as he rushed away. You didn't know exactly what to do with all of the emotions colliding inside of you. You wanted to scream at him, no you wanted to punch him.

You settled for a rough shove to his toned chest, which did practically nothing besides the fact that it reminded you just how toned his chest was.

"You- you asshole!" You yelled tears streaming freely down your face.

"Y/N?" He asked his sparkling blue eyes enveloping you with a confused look. "Y/N, why are you crying?" He asked reaching out a hand to brush your face. You smacked it away angrily.

"You said you'd be there Haru! You promised you watched my race. You fucking promised!" You hissed wiping furiously at the tears.

"Oh."

"_Oh?"_

"I'm sorry y/n I guess I forgot. I had to go talk to Rin about something… did you win." You let out a frustrated yell pulled on your hair.

"God Haru you just don't get it do you?" You demanded slamming your index finger into his chest. Haru raised one of his eyebrows in confusion and grabbed onto your extended arm, his large hand completely enveloping your smaller one.

"What do you mean? What don't I get?" He asked. _That I love you Haru. That I fucking love you._

"You know all I wanted was to come first in your life for just one damn day! No not even a day. A race! Just one race Haru. And you didn't even bother to stay around for it to at least start!" You yelled trying to yank your hand out of his, and also trying to ignore how warm his hand was and how soft his palm was against your hand. Haru's usually stoic face melted into one of mass confusion.

"Y/N it was just a race. I'll watch your next-"

"No Haru. It wasn't just a race." You reasoned. "It was so much more. I got into Nationals you know? I won the race. But I guess I haven't really won anything." You could feel your voice quiver as a sob tried to escape you. You bit it back and forced yourself to meet his ocean blue eyes. The eyes that you had dreamed about constantly.

"I-I don't understand." Haru mumbled shaking his head slightly.

"No you don't. You never have Haru." You pulled your hand free of his grasp and turned on your heels.

"Wait y/n please, just tell me what you mean. Tell me what's wrong." You stayed staring straight ahead your bottom lip wavering but your jaw tightening into the stubborn face you often carried.

"You want to know what's wrong?" You implored. "Well I'll tell you. I love you Haru. You understand now? I love you and for once I just wanted you to actually care about me." And with that you sprinted off, not even daring to look behind as you raced down empty hallways and dashed into the first abandoned pool room you could find.

There had been crying. Lots of crying but you really didn't want to think about it too much. Now you couldn't help but muse over how huge the building was. _How many pools do they have in here?_ You thought as you slid into the crystal clear waters and relished in the comfort it gave you. You sighed loudly and lay down on your back, letting the water cradle you as you drifted off into the middle of the pool, your eyes closed tightly. Barely a second had passed before you heard the creak of the pool door being opened and the echo of footsteps on the cold tiles. You didn't bother to open your eyes but you let your ears strain as you heard the familiar sound of water splashing as a second body entered the pool. This was the tricky part, all you could hear now was sloshing water and you weren't quite sure how close the person was. That is until you felt two warm hands rest themselves on your waist. Your eyes fluttered open and you yanked yourself to your feet.

_Haru. _

He was standing just inches away from you, his shirt off and his swimsuit on. You gulped and tried to keep your eyes focused on the water.

"Y/N?" He said scooting even closer to you. You could feel his warm breath on your cold, wet cheek. You shivered. "Do you really love me?" For the first time in your entire life you were at a complete loss for words. You kept your eyes trained on the rippling water, and tried not to think about his wet chest or your wet swimsuit or his blue eyes.

You nodded.

"And do you honestly think I don't care about you?" He asked his voice coming out frustrated and angry. You looked up with a new question poised on your tongue but he already had you in his arms. He pulled you into his chest, his arms looping around your waist and his face nuzzling into your neck.

"Haru?" You squeaked your arms instinctively wrapping around his naked chest and clasping onto his toned back. You could feel his sinewy muscles against your check as he held you against him, your face having no choice but to rest against the crook in his neck.

"You matter y/n. You've always mattered, and I've always cared." He whispered his lips grazing your shoulder as he mumbled against them. "Swimming and the water are the things I care about the most, but _you_ are the person I care about the most." You weren't quiet sure what to do. You weren't used to Haru being so open about his emotions, about anything really, and it didn't help that his warm chest was being pressed against your body. You felt his hand run down your spine as he slowly pulled away his arms still tight around you but his eyes now focusing on your e/c eyes. He unraveled one hand from around your waist and slowly traced it up your arm and neck until his hand was cupping your cheek. "I do care about you y/n I always have." He mumbled his thumb brushing small circles on your jaw. "And I love you." He smiled, one of his rare, hard to come by, but still endearing all the same smiles.

His lips crashed onto yours before you could even register how shocked you were. His lips were soft and molded to yours as your fingers reached up and tangled in his hair. He pulled you in closer to him until his body was up against yours. You could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest as he continued to kiss you his other hand holding onto your waist like his life depended on it.

When you two finally pulled away he rested his forehead against yours and sighed. "I've been wanting to do that for awhile." He admitted his hand brushing a few strands of wet hair from your face. You smiled and peered up into his blue eyes one of your arms still wrapped securely around his chest while your other hand lay splayed across his chest.

"I love you y/n."

"I love you too Haru."

"I love you even more than the pool."


End file.
